First, I wanted to thank everyone who was able to participate this past Sunday in the Temple Sinai Annual Meeting, via Zoom. Although I was not able to see your smiling faces, I saw your names and was able to see you in spirit. Again – a big thank you to Rabbi Sara for hosting and trying to keep up with all the wonderful questions and discussions on the chat session. While many of us have been in a lot of these meetings lately, it does not make them any easier or less complicated. Thank you for bearing with us; it truly was great to have so many of you on the call.

We do have many tough decisions to make. There were a lot of questions and concerns about the Temple Sinai Board of Trustees’ decision to keep the building empty through August 1st. Please know, the board is not making this decision lightly. We all miss seeing every member of our Temple Sinai family in person. But we as a board are very concerned for all of you and your health and safety are more important to us than opening our doors. We are adhering to guidelines from a number of entities: the CDC, the URJ, and of course, the Governor of Nevada. Just to clarify, religious facilities have not been phased in as of yet. When we are phased in, we will still need to maintain sacred distancing and still may not be able to have groups of 25-30 for a service.

Families in Sinai School have also faced tough decisions and challenges. Some families have had to postpone their B’nei Mitzvah. And I am sure there are a lot of our families making tough decisions about not being able to go on vacation or send their kids to camp. Unfortunately, everything normal in our lives, just is not normal anymore. We will reschedule everything we can, and I hope that we will celebrate like crazy, as a whole community when we do.

Please understand, no matter the decision Temple Board makes in regards to Temple Sinai, we are trying to make the best policy and needs for everyone as a whole. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any one of us to talk about any concerns or questions you might have. Or call us even if you just need to talk. We are doing everything we can for the congregation, so if there is a need for any other assistance for your family or another family you know of, please reach out to the Rabbis or myself. We will get through this, together.

Be safe and stay well.

L’shalom,
Michael